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Tavra (Katavra of Ha'rar)
}} |species = Gelfling |gender = Female |occupation = Princess of the Vapra Clan |family = *Mayrin (mother) *Seladon (sister) *Brea (sister) *Onica (lover) (YAN) |clan = Vapra |home = Ha'rar |birth = |death = Killed by SkekSil (AOR) |puppeteer = Neil Sterenberg |voice = Caitriona Balfe |designer = |builder = |appeared = *''Shadows of the Dark Crystal'' *''Song of the Dark Crystal'' *''Tides of the Dark Crystal'' *''Flames of the Dark Crystal'' *''The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'' }} }} Tavra (born Katavra) was a Gelfling princess of the Vapra Clan and a daughter of All-Maudra Mayrin. Biography Displeased with how the Skeksis and her mother handled the Law, Tavra hoped to set sail with the Sifa Clan, though decided to remain in Ha'rar to help her older sister Seladon and her younger sister Brea as both looked to her for guidance though disliked each other, both of whom would often come at odds with their mother the All-Maudra. Tavra pulled strings to allow her sister Brea to attend the tithing ceremony, asking only that she not embarrass her or ask the Skeksis questions. En route however, Tavra found Brea gone, gone to ask the Skeksis a question. Brea ended up falling in front of their carriage and was escorted back to the citadel by skekLach and skekOk, who favored Brea. Tavra nonetheless complained about Brea embarrassing her. Later, as Tavra's mother Mayrin sat in judgment of Brea for wiping Elder Cadia's memory, Mayrin sent Tavra away to assuage the angry Sifans. Standing at court with Seladon later, Tavra stayed quiet as usual while Seladon complained that she had made the right decision in sending Brea to the Order of Lesser Service. Seladon however became angry when Tavra did not agree or otherwise voice her thoughts, so Tavra cut Seladon to the quick by saying that she was truly angry at their mother Mayrin for not acknowledging the work Seladon does. Tavra then supported Seladon, until she was called off by Mayrin to hunt Rian for allegedly murdering another Vapra Clan member. En route, Tavra found Brea after she ran away from the Order of Lesser Service, and supported her decision, saying that Seladon and Brea are alike in their stubbornness but that their sisterly bond could never be broken. Tavra then continued on. Tavra caught up with Rian in a Podling bar held at sword-point by Naia, and went to prevent Naia from taking her. They both began to argue, with Naia saying she had permission from Maudra Laesid and Tavra saying she had permission from All-Maudra Mayrin, until Kylan interrupted their argument to diffuse the situation. The argument began to resurface until Rian brought out the essence of Mira, asking them to dreamfast with him to learn the truth. Tavra initially declined, fearing the "madness" Rian might spread, but when Kylan agreed to it, she acquiesced, saying her mother would want to know the whole truth. They dreamfast together, realize the truth, and Tavra pledges to overthrow the Skeksis, going with Naia to help her free Gurjin. Splitting from Naia and Kylan in order to spy on the Skeksis, Tavra discovered that Emperor skekSo was drawing power from the Darkening, but she made a noise and had to retreat. She was quickly captured however, and reassured the other paladins that were placed in her cage when the Skeksis turned on the castle guards, who told Tavra about her mother Mayrin's death at the hands of skekVar. Tavra was later selected by skekVar to be the Arathim host. When skekVar went to Stone-in-the-Wood with his Arathim army, he brought Tavra, who had been possessed by Threaders and incorporated into the Arathim hive mind, the Ascendancy. She faced the Stonewood army, and unleashed a horde of Threaders upon it, and they too were added to the hive mind. Together, they all walked willingly to the Castle of the Crystal. When Brea and Seladon were imprisoned, the Ascendancy mocked them, speaking through Tavra, saying the age of the Gelfling had come to an end. Death }} Still under control of the hive mind, Tavra pitilessly strapped Brea in to be drained, ignoring her pleas. Eventually, skekSo ordered the Gelfling to be freed as part of a deal with Aughra, and so Tavra released Brea, Fara, and Seladon from their chairs will chittering to the other Threaders possessing the other Gelfling, releasing them all from the Ascendancy hive mind. Returning to herself, Tavra told Brea and Seladon of the alliance between Arathim and Gelfling, but because Tavra had been merged too long she could no longer leave the hive mind. She accepted it contentedly, and helped lead the Gelfling out of the Castle of the Crystal via the catacombs. When she encountered skekVar en route, she stabbed him and sought to kill him in vengeance for Mayrin's death, but was run through by skekSil before she could. After the Skeksis left her for dead, Brea and Seladon carried Tavra out, but her wounds were too great, and she brought Brea and Seladon's hands together before dying. In death, the threader which linked Tavra to the Arathim hive mind finally released her and departed, and her sisters returned Tavra's body to Thra. Other appearances In the timeline established in J.M. Lee's young adult novels, Tavra was captured by the Skeksis and drained after she discovered that they were draining their castle guards and other Gelfling. Later, she rejoined Naia, Kylan, and Gurjin, but seemed to be acting strangely. It was revealed that her drained body was being controlled by a Crystal Singer Arathim (also called a Threader), Krychk, who had been tasked with capturing Naia, Kylan, and Gurjin, and returning them to the Skeksis. Naia and friends managed to outwit and disarm Krychk, but they were unable to save Tavra's body, which had already been drained by the Skeksis and was deteriorating rapidly. In order to save Tavra, Kylan used the magic of dream-etching to etch Tavra's soul into the Crystal Singer's body (and Krychk into her dying Gelfling body). While inhabiting the body of a Crystal Singer, Tavra was still able to dreamfast. In addition, she gained the ability to control the bodies of Gelfling hosts, as Crystal Singers are able to. In Tides of the Dark Crystal, Tavra's relationship with the Sifa Far-Dreamer, Onica, was revealed. Tavra and Onica hid their relationship because Tavra's mother, All-Maudra Mayrin, disapproved of her daughter's romance with a Sifa. With her spider body being useless for combat, she also worked to train the Grottan Amri in swordsmanship to pick up her slack in the group. Trivia *She was named after a Gelfling of myth who was said to be a friend of Raunip. References External Links * * }} Category:Females Category:The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance characters Category:Characters Category:Deceased Category:Gelfling